Apparatus for feeding filaments for incandescent lamps



Oct. 3, 1933.

APPARATUS ?OR FEEDING 'FILAMENTS FOR INCANDESCENTLAMPS Filed m. 4. 1932.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [NI ENTD. JUHANZVES M pr 7. F03 BY L firs ATTUR. "'Y

-.|. M. VAN DER Post. 1,929,294

Patented Oct. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FILAMENTS FOR INCANDESCENT LAMPS Johannes M. van der Poel, Eindhoven, Netherlands, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 4, 1932, Serial No. 641,199, and in the Netherlands November 28, 1931 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding filaments for incandescent lamps and similar articles. One of the objects of my invention is to provide feeding apparatus wherein the filament is positively held in a definite position throughout its length during transferring thereof.

According to my invention the apparatus consists of a pick-up head comprising a suction head having cooperating guide portions. The said suction head picks up a filament, then moves with respect to said guide portions to draw said filament into said guide portions and hold it securely therein. The said pick-up head then carries the filament to a'transfer .block in which the ends of said filament are lined up and delivered to a pair of cooperating suction fingers which grasp said ends and place them in hooks in the ends of filament leading-in wires of a lamp mount. Further features and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description thereof and from the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. '1 is a perspective view of apparatus comprising my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a filament pick-up pin; Fig. 4 is a series of views showing steps in the operation of the pick-up head; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a filament locating and transfer mechanism; and Fig. 6 is a plan view thereof.

Referring to Fig. 1, filaments 10 are located in grooves 11 of a conveyor 12 driven over a gear 13 .by a pawl and ratchet mechanism 1415.

ries a roller 19 at one end which rests on one end of a lever 20. Said lever 20 is pivotally mounted on a pin 21 in a support 22. The vacuum head 16 is mounted on a tube 23 which passes through a hole in the arm 18 and is mounted on a cross arm 24. Said head 16 has a plurality of holes 25 therein (Fig. 4) communicating with the tube 23 and extending to a groove 26 in the bottom of said head which is substantially semi-circular. In this position of the head a pin 2'7 on the cross arm 24 bears down on the end 28 of a lever 29 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 30 in a lug 31 on the support 22. A pin 32 mounted on the other end of said'lever 29 is normally held down in a groove 33 extending longitudinally of the conveyer 12, by a torsion spring 34, but the pin 27 bearing down on the end 28 of the lever 29, slightly rotates said lever counter-clockwise andraises up the said pin 32. As shown in Fig. the said pin 32 lifts up a filament at its middle and delivers it to the groove 26 (Fig. 4) of the head 16 where it is held by suction maintained in the tube 23. The cross arm 24, together with the said suction head 16; is now raised by a rod 35 by mechanism not shown, through a distance b (Fig. 2). During delivery of a filament 10 to the head 16, the legs 17 are held down on the conveyor 12 by a spring 37, surrounding a rod 38, which is mounted on the arm 18 and passes through a hole in the cross arm 24. When the said cross arm 24 rises, the said spring 3'7 becomes substantially fully extended so that a relatively weak spring 39v attached to the right end of the lever 20 pivots said lever clockwise and the legs 17 are raised nearly the same distance as head 16. The fila-' ment 10 is then held as shown in step 2 of Fig. 4. The cross arm 24 nowdescribes an arc c (Fig. 2) during which the roller 19 moves along a downwardly curving rail 40. Since the rail 40 curves down faster than arc c, the legs 17 drop down with respect to the suction head 16 so that the filament 10 is located totally within the confines of said head 16 and legs 1'7, as shown in step 3 of Fig. 4. I I

- The pick-up head 16-1'7 comes to rest at the bottom of the rail 40 just above a pair of holes 41 in a split transfer block comprising a stationary portion 42 and a movable portion 43. The cross arm 24 now moves down a distance d (Fig. 2), thereby moving the suction head 16 down to the position shown in dotted lines in step 4 of Fig. 4 and the filament 10 enters the funnel-shaped holes 41 which taper down to a slightly larger diameter than the filament at their lower ends. The ends of said filament 10 come to rest against a stop plate 44 on the block portion 43, between the ends of a leaf spring 45 (Figs. 5 and 6), and the opposite sides of a plate- 46 carrying said spring. The spring ends 45 are held open by pins 4'7 in a strap plate 48, said pins 47 being at this point in the upper ends of slots 49 (Fig. 6) in the plate 44. The strap plate 48 is mounted on arms 50 which are keyed to shafts 51 -52 and the block portion 43 is loosely mounted on said shafts 51-52 which are in turn mounted in lugs 5354 forming a part of the machine frame which is not shown. The shaft 51 carries a pinion 55 at one end thereof which meshes with a gear segment 56 which is reciprocated by a cam 5'7 through a lever 58 and link 59. The strap 48 is rotated from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 to the position shown in full lines by said gear 55. As said strap 48 begins its rotation the pins 4'7 thereon move to the back or lower ends of slots 49 in Fig. 6, thereby allowing the ends of springs 45 to clamp the ends of tube being mounted on a rocker arm 62 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 63. Said rocker arm 62 is pivoted by a pin 64 (Fig. 1) in an arm 65 which is keyed to the shaft 51. Said pin 64 slides in a slot 66 in the rocker arm 62 so that the said rocker arm follows the block portion 43 up to the position shown in Fig. 2. The block portion 43 rotates a small amount by its weight after strap 48 has reached the upper position, thereby causing the pins 47 to again open the spring ends 45 to release the filament 10 which is then held by the vacuum fingers 60. The shaft 51 now rotates clockwise, allowing the rocker arm to drop down to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 where it is stopped when a pin 6'7 on said rocker arm strikes the lug 53. This brings the ends of the filament 10 into the hooked ends 68 of the lead wires 69 of a lamp mount 70. The said hooked ends 68 are closed around the ends of the filament by a pair of jaws 71 which move toward a stationary tongue 72.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a filament feeding device, a pick-up head comprising a curved suction head portion and leg portions extending along each side thereof, means for moving said suction head portion toward a filament supply. source to pick up one of said filaments and then retract to draw said filament within the confines of said suction head and le portions, and mechanism for transferring said pick-up head.

2. In a filament feeding device, the combination of a pick-up head comprising a curved suction head portion and leg portions extending along each side thereof, means for moving said suction head portion toward a filament supply source to pick up one of said filaments and then retract to draw said filament within the confines of said suction head and leg portions, and a transfer block comprising a movable portion, a pair of spring clamps mounted on said movable block portion, mechanism for transferring the said pick-up head to said movable transfer block portion to bring the ends of the filament in juxtaposition with the said spring clamps, means for moving the suction head portion of the said pick-up head toward said clamps to place the ends of said filament therein, means for closing saidspring clamps to grip said filament ends, and means for transferring said movable block portion.

3. In a filament feeding device, the combination of a pick-up head comprising a curved suction head portion and leg portions extending along each side thereof, means for moving said suction head portion toward a filament supply pair of spring clamps mounted on said movable block portion, mechanism for transferring the said pick-up head to said movable transfer block portion to bring the ends of the filament in juxtaposition with the said spring clamps, means for moving the suction head portion of the said pick-up head toward said clamps to place the ends of said filament therein, means for closing said spring clamps to grip said filament ends, a pair of suction fingers mounted in juxtaposition with said movable block portion, means for transferring said movable block portion, and means for moving said suction fingers first toward said movable block portion to grip the ends of the filament then away, to deliver said filament ends to the hooked ends of a filament mount located adjacent to the path of said vacuum fingers.

4. In a filament feeding device, the combination of a pick-up head comprising a curved suction head portion and leg portions extending along each side thereof, means for moving said suction head portion toward a filament supply source to pick up one of said filaments and then retract to draw said filament within the confines of said suction head and leg portions, a transfer block comprising stationary and movable portions, a pair of funnel-shaped guide holes in said block, the center line of said holes coinciding with the parting line of said stationary and movable portions, a spring clamp mounted on said movable block portion below each of said holes, and mechanism for transferring said pick-up head to said transfer block to bring the ends of the filament over said holes, means for lowering the suction head portion of said pick-up head to deliver the ends of said filament through said holes to said spring clamps, means for closing said spring clamps to grip said filament ends, and means for transferring said movable block portion.

5. In a filament feeding device, the combination of a pick-up head comprising a curved suction head portion and leg portions extending along each side thereof, means for moving said suction head portion toward a filament supply source to pick up one of said filaments and then retract to draw said filament within the confines of said suction head and leg portions, a transfer block comprising stationary and movable portions, a pair of funnel-shaped guide holes in said block, the center line of said holes coinciding with the parting line of said stationary and movable portions, 9. spring clamp mounted on said movable block portion below each of said holes, and

mechanism for transferring said pick-up head.

said spring clamps to grip said filament ends, a

pair of suction fingers mounted in-juxtaposition with said movable block portion, means for transferring said movable block portion, and means for moving said suction fingers first towardsaid movable block portion to grip the ends of the filament then away, to deliver said filament ends to the hooked ends of a filament mount located adjacent to the path, of said vacuumfingers. A

JOHANNES M. van nm POEL. 

